Can you see the problem here? All spaces along an exterior wall need insulation.

I had to blow them up a bit so you could see the problem I am having with this.

Nobody else seemed to notice.

This is one of the exterior side walls of the house.

The other side wall was the same way!

Can you see my problem?

Hopefully this will help.

Here is another similar photo.

Another area, same problem.

Can you see this one too?

Does this help?

Certainly this will be a long term problem.

This floor joist is under the sun room.

The sun room is rectangular.

This basement will be finished. So the walls will all be insulated.

Around the house the rim joists are also to be insulated. At least they should be! Everywhere!

However, in this house, they have the two exterior joists situated so closely together, that there is a gap between them which I figured to be 8" or 10".

That area will be sealed up, covered with flooring above, and drywall below. It will become a large, long space of dead, and very cold, air.

Do you think that much square footage missing insulation all along both sides of the house and around the rear sun room will not influence the house?

OF COURSE IT WILL!

My client asked how these spaces can be insulated now. The only way would be to cut holes and blow loose, cellulose insulation into the space.

DO YOU THINK THE BUILDER HAD PLANS TO DO THAT? I doubt it highly.

My recommendation: home inspectors catch things like this. I wonder if the builder had. I know the client, who had been in the house dozens of times prior to my visit, had not noticed it. Now he thinks it is a concern. And it is! This is a silly design flaw, in my opinion, that this builder's designers should have picked up on. For now, hopefully, it will be taken care of, at least for this client.

I actually have had agents say to me that there is no need to have a new home inspected until you are nearing the end of the builder warranty. (Because it is "under warranty") Your posts are great about exposing the fallacy of this belief!

Looks like an opportunity for Mike Holmes to step in with his foaminator. I'll have to admit, when my electrical contracting company follows a build where foam is used rather than other types of insulation it's a real challenge to do extra work.

They would have found it one very cold day Steven, when they were in the kitchen or sun room and their feet were cold! AND they would have remembered how nicely insulated the basement walls were and not understood why they were cold!

Jay- I think most contractors are not trained on how air flows in structures. I know a contractor that did not know what efflorescence was and installs drywall right on top of it. He has know idea of how air and moisture can affect a house.